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Complete cure of established murine hepatocellular carcinoma is achievable by repeated injections of retroviruses carrying the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene

Gene Therapy volume 6, pages 525–533 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

Although xenotransplantation of retrovirus-producing cells into a tumor has been shown to be effective for the treatment of cancer, injections of recombinant retroviruses are much more feasible for clinical applications. We established a clone producing retroviruses carrying the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSVtk) gene with titers of up to 4 × 107 colony-forming units/ml, and examined the effectiveness of in vivo gene therapy against cancer. Syngeneic mice were inoculated subcutaneously with murine hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells, BNL1ME A.7R.1, and the treatment was initiated after tumors were established. When mice were given an intratumoral injection of HSVtk-carrying retroviruses or their producing cells followed by ganciclovir (GCV) treatment, significantly pro- longed survival periods were observed. When mice were treated with repeated intratumoral injections of HSVtk-carrying retrovirus-producing cells, significant antitumor responses and some cures were induced by GCV treatment. Furthermore, repeated intratumoral injections of HSVtk-carrying retroviruses and GCV treatment resulted in complete regression of established HCC tumors in all animals used in the experiment. Mice that completely eradicated tumors exhibited protective immunity against wild-type HCC tumors. These results suggest that repeated injections of HSVtk-carrying retroviruses followed by GCV treatment is a potent modality for the treatment of solid tumors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Third Department of Internal Medicine, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Japan

    S Kuriyama, K Masui, M Kikukawa, T Sakamoto, T Nakatani, S Nagao, M Yamazaki, H Yoshiji, H Tsujinoue & H Fukui

  2. Institute for Medical Research, Wakunaga Pharm Co, Ltd, Hiroshima, Japan

    T Yoshimatsu

  3. National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki National Research Institutes, Okazaki, Japan

    K Ikenaka

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  1. S Kuriyama
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  2. K Masui
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Kuriyama, S., Masui, K., Kikukawa, M. et al. Complete cure of established murine hepatocellular carcinoma is achievable by repeated injections of retroviruses carrying the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene. Gene Ther 6, 525–533 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.gt.3300869

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.gt.3300869

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